


find my breath

by ShapeShiftersandFire



Series: Telepurrthy AU [2]
Category: X-Men: The Animated Series
Genre: Angst, Gen, Panic Attacks, Purry AU, Telepurrthy AU, jean's not an android she just Does That
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 12:11:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17981093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShapeShiftersandFire/pseuds/ShapeShiftersandFire
Summary: it hurts to breathe and she can't breathe and and she needs to breathe and it hurts to purr and she can't purr and she needs to purr and this collar is choking her





	find my breath

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by MackerelGray's dbh fic "suppression" and episode 15 of x-men the animated series "till death do us part (part 2)"
> 
> requested by MackerelGray, who loves this lil ginger bean as much as i do
> 
> au in which telepaths are capable of purring

The time between when she’s caught on the beach and strapped down to the table (it’s coffin-shaped and the inferred symbolism isn’t lost on her) is a black blur. She can’t remember what happened in between—how she got there—if they dragged her, carried her, pushed her—how she ended up on that table—if she fought, if she was so numb she just let it happen.

Not that it changes the outcome, she’s still tied down and she hates it. She doesn’t know what’s going to happen to her, what Sinister’s going to do to her, to Scott, to them—

\--is she going to live—

\--is he going to let them live—

 -- _I don’t want to die like this! Not here!—_

Her chest tightens. Her throat tightens, she can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t breathe, can’t _breathe—_

_\--Breathe!—_

_\--_ she has to—

Her throat clenches uncomfortably with the effort. She can’t get enough air in but she has to, she has to purr—

\-- _she has to._

She chokes trying to breathe, trying to get air in her throat. The first few notes come out as a cough, strangled and dry and painful _but she has to she needs it_ and it doesn’t get any easier. She’s choking on her own breath, her own need to purr _but she can’t stop it_

_But she can’t **breathe**_

_THIS COLLAR IS CHOKING HER—_

_SCOTT!_

Hyperventilating, she’s hyperventilating, she needs Scott, she can’t breathe—can’t breathe—can’t _purr—can’t breathe—_ the collar—

“ _Scott—”_ It’s forced, dry, barely audible amid whatever Sinister’s saying, she’s stopped listening. She turns her head to Scott and it ramps up her fear more than it calms her, they’re both collared, both tied, _HE CAN’T HELP HER._ “ _Scott--!”_

Now he looks over at her and the worry is clear in his face. He knows what she’s trying to do, what she can’t do. “Slow your breathing,” he says. “I’m right here. Listen to me.”

Jean closes her eyes and listens, focuses on Scott’s voice, ignores what Sinister tries to say. She needs Scott, she needs air, she needs to purr, she needs—

And then there’s a familiar rumble in her throat and it comforts her in more ways that one. It’s still ragged, cut off here and there by her dry throat _and that collar is still choking her_ but she’s purring but she’s scared, she can’t stop it—

And it occurs to her that she doesn’t want Sinister knowing but there’s nothing she can do, she purrs when she’s scared, she can’t help it. She purrs when Sinister monologues, she purrs when he forms that _thing_ out of the ground, louder when he gets near her with it—

And by then it doesn’t matter if he hears her purr or not—

By then, she’s screaming.


End file.
